Nintendo's strategy with the 3DS's early years and its forthcoming Wii U launch is to put core-orientated games ahead of efforts to attract the mass market, according to CEO Satoru Iwata.
Speaking in an investor Q&A following its financial report last week, Iwata explained that the platform holder has learned from mistakes made with the Wii.
While that console succeeded in attracting new customers with more casual titles such as Wii Sports, he admitted Nintendo had then struggled to convince core gamers to take the platform seriously, which negatively impacted the system's long term success.
"The Wii was able to reach a large number of new consumers who had never played games before by bringing hands-on experiences with its Wii Sports and Wii Fit," he explained.
"However, we could not adequately create the situation that such new consumers played games frequently or for long, consistent periods. As a result, we could not sustain a good level of profit.
"Moreover, regrettably, what we prioritised in order to reach out to the new audience was a bit too far from what we prioritised for those who play games as their hobby. Consequently, we presume some people felt that the Wii was not a game system for them or they were not willing to play with the Wii even though some compelling games had been released."
Accordingly, Iwata explained, it decided not to flood the 3DS's early release slate with casual games, instead prioritising core titles such as Super Mario 3D Land, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Ocarina of Time 3D and Mario Kart 7. It intends to take a similar approach with the Wii U when it launches later this year.
"Once consumers have a notion that 'this system is not for us', we have learned that it is extremely difficult to change their perceptions later," said Iwata.
Source (and rest of article)Well, it's not like we didn't already know this this but it's good Nintendo have finally come out and admitted that the Wii wasn't the best for gamers and that they will definitely take a different approach with the Wii U.
